1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method, apparatus, and computer readable media for converting an html page into new html pages.
2. Related Art
HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) is the predominant method for arranging text and other content in a page view to be displayed on the WWW (World Wide Web). In general, html pages (e.g., webpages) are most often displayed on the monitor of a personal computer; however, recent portable devices such as mobile telephones, data terminals such as PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), office devices such as MFPs (Multi-Function Peripherals) and various other types of devices have been enabled to display html pages.
In addition, many systems utilizing html pages for displaying Web applications or the like in a browser have been developed, among which there are numerous examples in which the display device is not restricted to being of a certain type.
These circumstances present a situation in which various sizes of display screens are being used, and it can be difficult for a user using another type of electronic device with a small display screen to view or navigate a page designed to be displayed on the monitor of a personal computer.
For example, if a page is displayed on the small display screen of an electronic device, due to the fact that the entire page cannot fit within the display area of the small screen, a fine scroll bar is required for navigation. Furthermore, the fine scroll bar is not suitable for use as a touch panel to be operated by finger. In order to facilitate display on a variety of display devices, one option to be considered is that of designing a page for each type of display device; however, that would significantly increase the workload on the designer.
In response to the above-described conditions, a method for automatically dividing pages according to the size of the display device on which they are to be displayed has been proposed. For example, an apparatus for dividing pages according to the size of the display device, and switching between displaying each of the divided pages that together constitute the original page has been disclosed. Furthermore, a system for determining the points at which to divide the page based on the distance between elements of the content (the integral of the depth of the tag nest) has been disclosed.
However, due to the fact that prior art such as that described above has the objective of automating the page division process, it is difficult to reflect the intention of the designer who created the pages regarding the positions where a page is to be divided. Accordingly, when the designer has desired to control the position at which a page is to be divided, it has been necessary to first understand the arrangement of the prior art, and then to repeatedly perform the division in a process of trial and error until a satisfactory result is attained.
Furthermore, when complex calculations are required to derive the page division position, unless there is high-performance processing capacity, it may not be possible to obtain user satisfaction with respect to display responsiveness.